Re: Could a viral infection have triggered feather evolution?

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> Well, surely an almost entirely speculative subject, but I was
> wondering if a viral infection could have being at center of the
> feather origin in maniraptorian dinosaur lineage

The structures in question are warts. Feathers are elongated and opened 
scales instead.

> (some people think that a viral infection could have triggered
> mammalian placenta origin too).

Well, one of the gene promoters involved comes from an endogenous 
retrovirus.